The Beginning of the End
by spikezgal106
Summary: a drama fic....duh....some sad parts and spoilers (it's an alternate ending for


Disclaimer.I own nothing. Joss owns everything.  
  
Spoilers.Takes place after "Chosen", an alternate ending to the Buffy legacy.  
  
Notes.Please read and review.be harsh, tell me what you really think.  
  
The Beginning  
  
"I love you," Buffy said to Spike, as she watched her, her what? with sunlight energy coursing through him, beating back all the Turok-han.  
"No, you don't, but thanks for saying it, love," Spike replied with a half smile. Not encouraging.  
"Spike, please, let go, come on."  
"I wanna die a hero, Buffy, I wanna see how it ends."  
Buffy, the Slayer, one of many, wouldn't take no for an answer. She ripped the amulet chain off of Spike's neck and the sunlight beam stopped immediately.  
"Bloody..what in the name of..why'd you do that? I had 'em beat, love, and now its not over!"  
"It is for now. Come on."  
"Why you.." She dragged him out into the evening, the sun was just setting, as they jumped on the bus and high-tailed it out of there.  
  
* * * *  
  
"It's really over, we did it!" an awed and exhausted Willow said, looking out the bus window as the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign toppled over into the hole. "Wait, what's that? Coming out of the hole?"  
"There's something I have to tell you guys.." Buffy braced herself, "it's not over. We haven't won yet."  
"But.Spike.and the sunlight..its got to be over..enough dying. I didn't manage to lose you this time, Buffy, and I'm so happy. Please say that we can just get on with our lives.as normal as possible.after all this.it has to be over." Dawn cried, looking at her sister for reassurance, wanting to know everything was okay.  
"I'm sorry.I made some bad decisions, but we can still win."  
"Bloody right, you made some wrong decisions, we had them beat! It would've been over Buffy, had you not been so stupidly attached," Spike piped up.  
Dawn looked out the back bus window and screamed. Thousands of Turok- han were pouring out of the hole that used to be Sunnydale, lead by a very familiar face, Buffy's, worn by The First.  
"We need a plan, fast." Buffy was back into leader mode.  
"There's nothing to do. It's over. We lost. Call Angel, hopefully he can make a stand. We have no choice but to throw in the towel." Xander said, defeated.  
"Xander.listen," Buffy started.  
"No.I'm done listening to you. I'm sorry I ever believed in you. Look where you've gotten us. I've lost my eye, and the one woman I love because of your "plans". I'm done with this."  
Buffy was shocked. She looked from one person to the next.her Potentials, now Slayers.Faith.Giles.Xander.Spike.Willow.and finally Dawn, who shook her head.  
"What can we do Buffy? We lost. It's over." She said.  
"We have to make one more stand. Give me one last chance." Her eyes pleaded with each person in turn, and she saw a few gazes harden back into working mode. "Now.here's the plan."  
* * * *  
  
The plan was being put into action as the bus glided to a stop.  
"What's wrong?" Buffy cried.  
"Something simple this time," Giles chided, "someone forgot to fill up the gas tank on the way out of town." He looked harshly at Andrew.  
"Oh, bloody brill, ain't it. First the Slayer drags me away from a job well done, and then now the soddin' bus can't get a right tank of gas. Everything's against us." Spike muttered, cursing silently under his breath.  
"Well, we just have to make our stand here. Willow?" She glanced at the Wicca, her best friend, her everything, as she braced herself to start a spell.  
"Exactly how big to you need it?" Willow asked in preparation.  
"Look out the window, judge for yourself." Buffy said, grimacing.  
* * * * "Are you ready?" Willow glanced at Kennedy, her anchor. "This is some pretty heavy magic, are you sure you can handle it?" Will's lover asked her.  
"Go for it."  
Willow began chanting, holding her hands out in front of her as energy pooled in her hands, forming a ball of sunlight large enough to be a star. Spike shielded himself as the light grew brighter, and he began to smoke, as even a bus seat couldn't hide him any longer. He jumped down into the lower level of the bus, with the engine. It reeked of gasoline, but hey, it was better than burning.  
The Slayers, Xander, and the watcher were arming themselves for round two of the Hellmouth knockout began. Willow sent the ball of light through the window, dusting hundreds of the encroaching Ubervamps. As valiant as her attempt was, it only made a small notch in the numbers, just as Buffy had an idea.  
"Will, I need you to raise the sun. I need daylight. Now. Don't argue, just try. We'll hold them off as long as we can." Buffy looked in earnest at her friend. "Try. If not for me, then for anyone.everyone. Just try."  
Andrew piped up, "Be like a Jedi.there is no try, you either do or do not."  
"Thank you, Obi-won." Willow muttered, deep in thought as she wracked her brain for the right spell.  
Meanwhile, the army trooped off the bus and began the fight.  
* * * *  
'Come on Will, I need the sun.we're losing ground.' Buffy thought, dusting yet another Turok-han. What was that, a thousand? It didn't matter, not anymore. She looked around at her fellow Slayers, all fighting bravely, their very lives depending on every vamp they dusted. But it wasn't enough. They needed the light, especially since the Ubervamps had nowhere to go if they got what they needed, the Hellhole was too far away for them to retreat. 'Musta done one thing right,' Buffy thought grimly. Just then she looked at the distant horizon, and the faintly appearing glow. 'Oh my God, she's doing it,' the Slayer thought, trying to feed some power to her friend; she couldn't imagine the drain that Willow had to be going through. 'Come on, a little more sun, just enough to give these vamps a light dusting.' Buffy chuckled at her pun, drawing energy from the fact that they were going to win. She heard a cry off to her right, and looked over in time to see Xander go down, a sword driven through him. She shouted out in anguish, as the last of the round sun peeked over the mountaintops.  
Every vamp burst into flame simultaneously, and Buffy ran over to Xander, who was laboring to breathe, vermilion blood staining his shirt. Just then, Dawn limped over.  
"Go get Willow, tell her to hurry." Buffy softly said, nudging Dawn with her elbow to get her moving. She ran off to the bus.  
Xander looked up at Buffy, his dirt-caked mouth desperately trying to form a smile as he spoke to her. "Buffy, I'm sorry. I," he coughed, "didn't mean what I said before, on the bus. I was with you to the end, one hundred percent. I love you, I always will. I'm sorry.tell everyone goodbye for me."  
"Tell them yourself," Buffy said, disbelieving. "You aren't going to die. Dawn went to get Willow, it's all going to be fine. Just hold on for a moment longer." She looked over and saw Willow hobbling over, supported by Dawn's arms. "Come on, Xander. We've always been together. Ever since you found everything out in the library in high school.. you're one of the original Scoobies, you have to always be here."  
Xander reached up his hand and put his finger on her lips, silencing her.  
"Oh God, Buffy, I love you. Forgive me." his head fell back, eyes open but unmoving, not breathing, just as Willow and Dawn ran up. Willow bent down, muttering, and then rocked back. She screamed, with an echo rattling the entire desert, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  
  
* * * * "In loving memory of Mr. Alexander Harris and Anya, may they rest in peace." The pastor said, closing his bible, while teary-eyed friends looked on. They were buried side by side, together at last, together forever, like they all should have been. Buffy drew support from each of her friends, and even though she was sitting down, her world was spinning. Each tear that streamed down her face made her take in the harsh reality that her decisions had cost her a best friend. The crowd thinned, and eventually only Buffy, Willow and Giles were left, all staring hard at the letters on the tombstone that told the story of their friend. "Here lies a true warrior, a man who was willing to give his very life to save others. He is greatly loved and greatly missed by all." But even those words could not express what Xander had brought to the group. His personality, his self, every loveable thing about him was gone, leaving a hole where there shouldn't have been one. Just then Angel stepped out of the darkness and walked slowly over to Buffy, embracing her, feeding her strength through his warmth. "Angel, its all my fault. I killed my best friend.how am I supposed to live with myself?" She cried out suddenly. "Shhhhh, quiet for now. Just relax." He stroked her hair, trying to comfort her, as Giles did the same for Willow. "It's okay, it'll all be okay.quiet now." She nodded off, finally finding peaceful sleep in the arms of her first love, peaceful for once. He picked her up gently and walked home next to Giles, who had Willow in his arms, ready to start a new chapter of their lives.  
* * * * Most stories have happy endings. But this story doesn't end. The legacy of the Slayer lives on, and so does the pain of war and evil. So let's not call this an end. It's just a new beginning of a new era. 


End file.
